Hockey: CIS top 10 - UNB uses two big wins to close in on top spot

Things are getting interesting atop the CIS top 10 rankings, with the Alberta Golden Bears holding onto their number-one ranking despite losing two first place votes, with both McGill and UNB earning seven first place votes this week to the Bears four.

Dropped from the rankings: St. FX (#6 last week)Other teams receiving votes: StFX (34), Concordia (23), Guelph (5), Acadia (4), UQTR (2), Lakehead (1).Top three tales: The Bears narrowly hold onto that top spot with a mere two point lead over McGill, and only four points separating Alberta and third-ranked UNB. Alberta's point total fell by two this week from last week's total of 165, while McGill held steady at 161. The V-Reds were the big winners this week both on the ice and in the poll, moving their point total up four to 159 thanks to an impressive weekend of AUS play.

UNB scored wins over the defending national champion Saint Mary's Huskies 5-2 Friday, before another big win over St. FX 6-2 Saturday night to take both of those top 10 battles. The V-Reds will once again take to the ice against Saint Mary's and St. FX this weekend, travelling to Antigonish Friday before heading to Halifax Saturday to take on the Huskies.

McGill also kept rolling this past weekend with wins over Toronto and Nipissing to remain the lone undefeated team in the nation at 10-0-0. With Ryerson rolling into Montreal this weekend for a pair of games, don't expect the Redmen's record to be tainted just yet.

Alberta had a bye this past weekend which could explain why they took a hit in the polls after the voters watched UNB win two key games. The Bears return to the ice this weekend to take on Regina in the Queen City, and anything but a sweeep is surely going to see the Bears knocked off their throne as number-one.

Movers and shakers: Two teams made significant moves up the rankings this week with Manitoba moving up three spots to #5 thanks to their weekend sweep of Regina. It took a while, but it finally looks lik eManitoba is rounding into the form that had the experts expecting big things out of this bunch. A weekend series against Calgary will tell us more.

The biggest change in the poll; however, was UPEI making their debut at #8. The Panthers already have a win over UNB under their belt, and after wins over both St. FX and Saint Mary's last weekend, UPEI got their kudos from the voters as a deserving top 10 team. UPEI has rematches this weekend against both St. FX and Saint Mary's.

Free fallin': Saint Mary's fell two spots - which is hardly a massive drop - this week in the poll down to the #6 spot, while fellow AUS squad St. FX dropped out of the poll completely after occupying that same #6 spot a week ago. Two losses a piece last weekend explain those drops.

Here's a look at the top 10 games that are on tap for his weekend:- #10 Calgary travels to Winnipeg to take on #5 Manitoba Friday and Saturday- #8 UPEI heads to Halifax Friday to take on the #6 Huskies- #3 UNB at #6 Saint Mary's Saturday night